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When an unfortunate accident leaves Sedona with an injured arm and she’s fired from her part-time job shelving books at the university library she has to find a new gig fast.

The only job available mid-semester is working as a tutor for the athletic academic center. And the notorious bad boy of the university’s basketball team, JESSE WALKER, is the one and only guy on the new tutor’s roster.

But when SEDONA discovers a secret that could ruin the school’s winning basketball team doing the right thing could mean destroying the only guy she’s ever loved.

When I finally hit the last room in a long row of rooms I see a guy sitting there looking bored and staring at two fast food containers in front of him on the table.

He glances up at me when I enter. The first thing I notice is his piercing green eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes that green on a human being that weren’t Photoshopped

The second thing I notice is his messy, light brown hair. It doesn’t look like it’s been combed it in a week. It makes me wonder if it’s some new hair trend or if he just doesn’t bother to style it. Not that I have too much room to talk when it comes to hair. My curly red mop has been the bane of my existence since I was a kid. About the only thing I can ever do with it is pull it back into a pony tail.

“Sedona?”

I nod.

“Have a seat.” He points to the chair right next to him.

I remember Lewis’s warning and take a seat across the table instead. I want to be as close to the door as possible. The guy is big and muscular and much more intimidating than I imagined he’d be.

My heart is thumping in my chest because his size and rough demeanor are making me nervous.

When he pushes one of the fast food containers in my direction I cringe. I rarely eat fast food and when I do it’s from Just Veggies, an organic vegetarian place near campus.

He doesn’t hesitate to open his container and take a bite of the messy burger that’s dripping some kind of white sauce all over his pile of fries.

My stomach turns in response.

“I bought you a burger.” He points to the second container he’s pushed in my direction. “Ambrose scheduled our sessions during lunch.”

I make a point of pushing the container back over to him. “No thank you.”

He frowns. “It’s from Frankie’s. Everybody loves Frankie’s burgers.”

“Clearly not everyone.”

His brows knit like he can’t believe I refused the food he bought.

“You don’t want it?” He actually sounds hurt.

“No, I don’t.”

“Why?”

I lift my book bag from the ground and point to one of the many political cause buttons I have covering the knitted tote my mom made for me.

He barely acknowledges it. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Now I’m the one who’s frowning. “Meat is murder. It’s a slogan. It means that I don’t eat animal flesh.”

“You’re one of those vegans?” He doesn’t bother hiding the condescension in his voice.

“Fine. I’ll eat the burger.” He glares at me as he opens the second container and takes a huge bite of the burger.

I’m appalled until I notice that he slyly pushes both containers away and doesn’t take another bite of either burger.

“I guess I should have brought an apple for the teacher.”

“Only if it’s organic. And I’m not actually a teacher. I’m a tutor.”

We both stare at each other for a long moment. Awkward does not even begin to describe our pairing. We’re like two people from different planets trying to communicate when we don’t speak each other’s languages.

I remove a slip of paper from my bag. “Mr. Ambrose gave me your schedule of classes for the semester. You’re taking Film Appreciation, The History of Jazz, Advanced Yoga and Stress Management. What’s your major?”

He shrugs. “Undeclared right now. But I’ll probably go with Sports Management.”

“So these are Gen Ed classes?”

He cocks his head and looks confused.

“General Education classes,” I clarify. “Elective classes you need to take to fulfill requirements that aren’t directly related to your major.”

“I guess so.”

I’m a little disturbed by his lackadaisical attitude, but I let it go for the moment. We’re clearly not going to be able to develop much of a rapport so maybe it’s best just to get down to business.

“We’re just handed a class schedule,” he clarifies. “Assigned classes. We don’t pick them ourselves.”

“And they assigned you the History of Jazz? That’s the class that you’re having trouble with?”

“The dude who was supposed to teach the class croaked and they got this new chick who apparently doesn’t like basketball.”

There is so much wrong with his statement I don’t even know where to begin. “Might I suggest that you call your professors either professor or doctor and not chick.”

I bristle at my own use of the derogatory word, but I continue, “And what does her not liking basketball have to do with your performance in the class.”

At this he gives me a sly smile. “Let’s just say she’s not willing to play ball the way the other professors are.”

I’m not sure exactly what he means by that, but there seems to be some kind of sports reference that is lost on me.

“So you’re saying your other classes are going well and you’re just having trouble with the one class, History of Jazz?”

He leans back in his chair and eyes me for a few seconds before he nods. I don’t like when he looks at me like that. It’s like he’s examining some weird, new specimen and trying to make sense of it.

“All of my other teachers are huge basketball fans and they know I’m the in the starting lineup. I’m not sure what the jazz goddess’s problem is.”

I take in a deep breath before I say something that’s sure to get me fired. “Why don’t we start by calling her Dr. Fisher? I think that might help. And why do you think she has a problem?”

USA TODAY Bestselling Author Karen Mueller Bryson writes romance novels under four pen names: Dakota Madison, Savannah Young, Sierra Avalon and Ren Monterrey. She lives in a small town outside of Phoenix, AZ with her husband and their bloodhounds.

It is said that the course of true love never runs smooth - even for us men. Yet it has never been easier to find love than in this modern digital era where the mighty computer has all but rendered Cupid redundant. Love is now to be found, quite literally, at your fingertips. Although love also seems to have changed with the times. This new love is deceitful and manipulative, cunning and untrustworthy. Love has gotten ugly. Thankfully, not all the answers to life’s mysteries are to be found in the computer and Cupid - battered and bruised as he may be - proves that he still has some game and a few tricks up his sleeve…

When first I met my now estranged wife during our Master’s year at university, I was seeing someone else too. In the main, this defines me as a “bastard”, although I preferred to think of myself as a “player”. Indeed I would argue that it falls under the guise of “sowing wild oats”. That’s the phrase that makes the practice somehow acceptable, and mothers the world over tell their sons that this is what they need to do before they settle down. The rite of passage into manhood as it were. At least, it’s what my mother told me. Women may argue this point - sorry, women will argue this point - but then they become mothers.

Naturally, they just don’t want those “wild oats” sown with their own daughters.

However, it is a fallacy to think that we men are completely heartless. I realised that I actually liked the girl that I eventually married so quickly ended all contact with the third party. In actual fact, she was a girl that I had been seeing first but only by a matter of a few weeks. I got the usual tirade of “bastard” texts, emails, and drunken voicemails. “I thought you were different” being the obligatory phrase that she just had to use during every one of these “opportunities”. In one particular instance, during which she also branded me a “coward”, I foolishly responded. I explained to her that I was merely being cruel to be kind as it was blatantly obvious to me that there we had no future together. Furthermore, after everything that had been said and done – more on her part now than mine - she would surely realise and accept that there was no going back as any trust and respect that had been built was now completely shattered.

I got the following reply:

“See, I knew you were different. That was lovely, you thinking of me and my feelings and us and our future. Why can’t we make this work? We can, you just have to trust yourself to trust me. Call me.”

It took another six weeks of ignoring and blocking her before she finally gave up. We had only been dating, if it could ever have been called that, for three weeks.

It takes true courage and bravery to finish any relationship. As my marital separation was only a week old, I understood that there may be some element of hope that we could fix it and move on. Yet I knew there was no way I could, or would, allow myself to stoop to such a level of indignity. My sense of pride has taken a pounding and is undoubtedly battered and bruised, but it is still there, standing tall and intact, however weakly. It is also getting stronger with every passing day.

All thanks to “Hope”.

“Hope” is a very strange feeling that displaces others such as “confidence”, “faith”, and “trust” and one that I have naturally gravitated towards my entire life. We are old friends, hope and I. Never have I dared to have “confidence” in my academic or sporting abilities, rather I always “hoped” that I would perform at my best as necessitated in any particular circumstance. When things had gone better than I had even dared “hope”, then I defaulted to the notion that is was merely my “good luck”, and vice versa. “Luck” has always provided me an excuse for all of life’s highs and lows and everything in between. Now I wanted to change all that. Now I wanted to control my existence.

Now I wanted to stir the stagnant pool that is my life proactively to feel like I am living again.

So that may well explain why I am now sat in only my boxer shorts in front of my computer, as the rain batters the window behind my curtains, and trying to focus on completing an online dating profile that includes a “personal statement” section. Apparently, its purpose is to allow me to describe myself in as broadly generic terms as possible in order to seem “normal” and “average” - and so maximising my appeal - whilst also trying to ensure that I am unique enough as to stand out. The logic of the concept is irrefutable and yet fantastically ridiculous.

It is also proving so challenging to the point of being quite impossible.

As a truck driver, I work most weekends and so this job commitment removes the more conventional ways of meeting women. Using a dating site makes far more sense in this new age of technology as it allows for an immediate connection without the need to wait for the weekend, or the demand of a decent chat up line. It cuts to the chase, so to speak. The site has posted a statistic that states over 28% of couples now “meet” online, so I am still happily in the minority.

However, it is utterly galling to me that I should ever try to be “normal” or “average” to anyone as I have never considered myself as such.

It seems to me to be morally fraudulent.

Online dating. It really is quite an absurd concept yet totally in concert with the modern era where people are too busy with work and life to take the time and make the effort for actually dating. Yet where is the romance of it? You will never hear a love song that refers to such sites. Can you imagine Rod Stewart singing “The Algorithm of my Heart”, or some such like?

No? Me neither.

AUTHOR BIO

After graduating with a couple of useless degrees in law, I left my Scottish homeland and wandered nomadically around the globe to experience the rich diversity of culture that the world has to offer.

On my travels, I met my Canadian wife in New Zealand, we were married in Scotland and now live in Canada with our newborn son. Although we currently call Toronto home, this is not yet a permanent arrangement and, rather alarmingly, we are perfectly happy about that…

Author Interview

1. What is your writing process?

My writing process is wonderfully chaotic with no rhyme nor reason to it. I tend to let my ideas stew and then the words just seem to come to me, that is when I sit down at the computer and cannot type quickly enough. The stewing process may take a few hours or a few weeks but it’s a process that I have come to trust, happy in the knowledge that the words will come. When they do, I have been known to write three chapters at a single sitting.

The stewing process seems to organise my thoughts and lets them flow when it comes time to write. These are the fun parts of my writing process.

It's the editing that is painful.

2. Is the story based off of your own expectations?

Yes, and probably more than I would care to admit. Thankfully I am now married with a young son (5 months), so no longer looking for love.

It struck me that it has never been easier to connect with potential partners yet it seems that this only serves to make it more difficult to find the “one”. Of course, I took liberties with some of the stories and the experience of “Z” but they are, in essence, all rather true.

It seems that my book has struck a chord with some people though, and I have been contacted to tell me so. In one particular instance, a lovely lady emailed me to say that she had been having problems with her new partner. It seems that he had “baggage” from his previous relationship but couldn’t explain the problems and issues. She read my book and told me she now had a greater understanding of what he had gone through – and was going through - and so she could help him, and so their relationship.

Her email was the measure of success to me for my book and I am so grateful that she sent it.

3. Are you a fan of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

I am a fan of all of Dickens work and I would hope that my title reflects that respect.

4. How do you stay motivated to write?

I didn’t start to write seriously until I turned 40 so I now find I have a lot to say - it’s more of a question of how do I stop writing!

5. What is your current WIP (Work In Progress)?

I am working on the sequel to “Greater Expectations”. This is more of a thriller than a romantic comedy and I hope to write it in such a way as to build upon the existing characters but also have it read as a stand alone book.

I would like to take this opportunity to say that the prelude for my second book can be seen on my website - www.aasmccabe.com/prelude

I’d also like to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for having me. It has been really great fun for me and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Have a great day everyone!

Character Interview

Zacchaeus “Z” MacLeod

1. Would you recommend on-line dating?

Yes, definitely. Although it wasn’t really successful for me, I can certainly recognize it has a value and a purpose. People are busy these days and it does allow for looking at prospective partners without having to rely on the traditional methods – through friends and family, going out, etc… On-line dating allows for vetting of prospective partners and trying to find love is a scary prospect in a dangerous world.
Undoubtedly, this provides a safer alternative.

2. What is your pet peeve?

It is finding out that I am ‘normal’ or in any way resembling a ‘stereotype’. I love to be different and thrive on doing things my own way, and think its great when others do so too.

Another pet peeve is this idea of making ‘mistakes’. We all make ‘mistakes’ every single day and they offer the perfect opportunity to learn and grow.

3. What is the last song you listened to?

Odd that you should ask. Just as I got out of the car, the radio was started to play James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful”. Ordinarily, I would have changed it as quickly as possible but now it seems to have a new meaning for me. I listened to the full song and found that I actually liked it.

Please don’t tell anyone or any semblance of street cred that I had will be lost forever.

4. What is the last book that you've read?

Inferno by Dan Brown. As usual, he didn’t disappoint and I really enjoyed how he spun the story. Robert Langdon is a great character and really believable. Through him, Dan Brown brings the lost art of symbols to life and demonstrates their importance in the modern era by basing much of his books in fact.

5. What is your astrological sign?

I was a test tube baby so my sign is Pyrex! I guess that is an old joke but it’s still a good one.

This or That

1. Coke or Pepsi

This is a particularly brilliant question for me as I now live in Canada. Here, I have noticed that whenever you order a Coke at a restaurant, there is always an apology when they tell you that they only serve Pepsi. Makes me chuckle every time!

I have an affinity for both. However, if I were pushed, I would still prefer the paperback.

4. Texting or Talking

Talking, every time. It baffles me no end that people will spend so long writing texts back and forth when they can have the conversation over and done in seconds.

Also, talking is more immediate and straightforward.

5. Social Media or Social Gathering

Social gathering for me. I love meeting people and hearing their stories, it gives me ideas for writing.

6. Coffee or Tea

Depends on my mood. I will drink both over the course of the day.

7. Thin or Thick

Thick, simply because it implies strength to me.

8. Fantasy or Reality

I like my fantasy mixed with a little of reality – and vice versa!

9. Dogs or Cats

I am allergic to cats so, for that reason alone, it would have to be dogs for me.

However, that said, I lived in Harbin, China for a year and visited their tiger park. The largest of its kind in the world. It was awesome but also rather terrifying but they cats were beautiful, graceful and elegant.

10. Outdoors or Indoors

I love travelling and have been very fortunate to have lived and worked all over the world. I couldn’t have done that indoors so it would be outdoors for me.

Top 10 Books

I should stress that these are not in any semblance of order but I loved every one of these, but for very different reasons.

1. On Writing by Stephen King

A great and easy read from a master of the craft. This book gave me the confidence to just sit down and write.

2. The Millennium Trilogy by Steig Larrson

I finished this trilogy in 5 days and could not put them down. They were fast paced, intricate and wonderfully woven tales that wreaked havoc on my emotions. Brilliant books and so sad that he didn’t survive to enjoy their success. Sad for the reader too, that we will have no more works from him. RIP Steig.

3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

This book was great although the film adaptation was disappointing in comparison.

4. The Marian Conspiracy by Graham Phillips

Probably the most controversial book to make my list but well worth it. I loved this book and, although some of the conclusions are a stretch to believe, it was well worth the reading for the historical facts alone.

5. Little Boss by James Mackay

I love biographies and this is one of my heroes – Andrew Carnegie. I also read his autobiography and, as you would expect, there are conflicts between the accounts. However, that said, Carnegie’s story is a genuine “rags to riches” effort and it is fascinating.

6. The Runaway Jury by John Grisham

Grisham at his very best, this had everything I look for in a thriller.

7. The Pelican Brief by John Grisham

Again, Grisham on top form and a genuine page turner.

8. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

I loved that J.K. Rowling had kids queuing up to buy these books. It encouraged their reading whilst stimulating their imaginations. Just brilliant, and I actually thoroughly enjoyed reading them too.

9. In The Name Of The Father by A.J. Quinell

This is the first suspense thriller that was recommended to me and had me gripped from the very first page. As a teenager, it also fuelled my imagination and I felt like I was with the main character through the whole book. I have enjoyed this genre ever since.

10. Kane And Abel by Jeffrey Archer

I am not a huge fan of Archer as a man but, as an author, he is a master storyteller and this is the perfect example of him at his peak. A very clever story, written in a wonderfully engaging and thoroughly enjoyable style. A book you can read over and

Review

First I would like to state that this was a difficult read for me only because I have gone through horrendous break-ups and even a divorce. Originally I was eager to review the book because I thought it would be interesting to read through a male perspective for once. As an analytic female, we get stuck in our own thoughts and delusional thought patterns, that I thought it would be refreshing to read the opposite sex. While I am not holding this author to all male perspectives, naturally, I could relate with his heartache, but had difficulties in other aspects. I couldn't understand how someone would be "distraught" and yet "just fine" - it goes to show that we as human beings are complex creatures, to say the least.

From the first chapter I was already irritated. I had a hard time connecting to Z because I haven't been in a relationship where a man really cared, so I couldn't connect with this male perspective. However, I realized I needed to put my past behind me and read this work as fiction, or rather a look-see at different aspects of relationships. From what I've experienced in life and what I've read, I'll just take my single life and be happy with it, thank you.

However, overall this is a great window in the minds of males during his journey through the relationship carousel that so many of us call life. Basically the book opens with the ending of a one week marriage, and what do we all do? We go and talk it out with our friends, or as the Scottish author implicates, we're all really just bastards (in the dating realm) grasping within our own realities. I did really like what the author wrote about "hope", he really hit it on target so many times, such as "people are too busy with work and life to take the time to make the effort for actually dating." As a person who went through a divorce after several years of marriage, I also could agree with the descriptive of "drawing the line" after a relationship is over, and referring to online "dating" to find that rebound, or that "line".

McCabe's ethnicity shines through with his Scottish charms and verbiage. Greater Expectations can be a little hard to follow at times, it skips from personal adages to other experiences often. If you haven't suffered through your own personal heartache, this is a great adage to the ups and downs of relationships written with the wisdom through experiences, and a reminder that our relationships are our own love stories, with all our imperfections that make us unique and distinguishable. "Existing isn't living", even though we go through these agonizing things, we're still living.

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Welcome to the world of the Ward Sisters, Emily, Anne and Charlotte. Get to know them, their friends and the new people who have come into their lives.

Start with Emily's story, Back to December, where you'll meet the oldest Ward daughter, and the movie star, Rob Deacon, who sweeps her off her feet.

Then, in Only One, you'll get to know Emily's bodyguard, Liam Neely, who happens to be Rob's best friend. You'll also meet Jenna Ackerman, Rob's assistant and his other best friend, the woman with whom playboy Liam falls in love.

In Right Here Waiting, you'll learn about Emily's lifelong best friend, Meghan Miles, and meet the soldier who steals her heart, Captain Neil Murphy.

And then, in This Year's Love, you'll hear middle sister Annie Ward's story of how she fell for her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh Ricker.

Additional glimpses into the lives of these characters – in the form of deleted scenes which didn't make it into the published narrative – are included at the end of each story. For any fans of the series, these are peeks at the characters you won't want to miss.

Meghan stared back at him as intently. Finally, she said, “What's going on here, Neil?”

“What do you mean?

“This. What's happening between us? Am I reading you wrong? Are you not interested in me?”

Neil couldn't let her think that. No. Never. He'd wanted her for too long to let her ever believe he wasn't interested, even for a moment. He pulled back, stood still and looked at her. He looked at her mouth. He wanted to kiss her, but if he waited until they were alone, she might give up on him. Danny was right, he had to stop sabotaging this.

Neil threaded his hands in her sun-kissed hair. In her eyes, he saw a desire to kiss him as powerful as his own. He leaned in, pressed his lips to hers and a wave of heat washed over him. Meghan leaned into the kiss, opening her lips, and as he slid his tongue into her mouth, Neil had to use every ounce of restraint his military training had afforded him to keep it from getting indecent.

As a child, Lucy Gage relished time to use her imagination, whether it was playing with her siblings - dolls, cars and trucks, make believe, LEGOs - or reading a book. That still translates today, as she writes the stories bouncing through her head, or reads the work of others. Her two imaginative children play the same way she did in her youth and love to read. She considers this her greatest accomplishment to date.

Married for the past dozen years, she and her family live in rural Maine. When not at the keyboard, she most enjoys gardening, hiking, amateur photography, the beach, dancing, crafts, ice skating, snow shoeing, boating and of course, reading.